———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Kinship Circle - info [at] kinshipcircle.org
Date: Mon, Jun 29, 2009 at 10:59 PM
Subject: Part 1/ UPDATES: APR - JUN 2009

KINSHIP CIRCLE PRIMARY / PERMISSION TO CROSSPOST

VICTORIES * SETBACKS * PROGRESS

PART 1: APRIL - JUNE 2009 / KINSHIP CIRCLE UPDATES

1. Pig Abusers At Hormel Supplier Get 1-2 Year Probation
2. Bureaucrats Reach No Decision On Whaling
3. Lax Officials Knew Travis The Chimp Might Attack
4. Kitten Killer’s Accomplice Is Now Charged Too
5. Pet Food Poisoners Plead Guilty And Face Jail Time
6. Foie Gras Producer On Trial For Cruelty
7. Atlanta Falcons Bid Michael Vick A Permanent Farewell
8. “Change” Doesn’t Look Much Different Under Obama
9. California Spay/Neuter Law Passes Senate, Moves To Assembly
10. Groups Sue Salazar In Effort To Save Delisted Wolves
11. Way To Go SAEN! Research Industry Meltdown
12. Cheyenne Frontier Rodeo Bans Video Instead Of Abuse
13. California Bullfight Busts Continue; Humane Officer Assaulted
14. Repression Of Austrian Animal Activists Worsens

PART 2: KC UPDATES / APRIL - JUNE 2009
RESEND PART #2 TO ME: info [at] kinshipcircle.org

15. HSUS And Michael Vick Team Up To Fight Dogfighting?
16. Armed To Kill In National Parks: Guns Allowed
17. Maine Is 6th State To Ban Cruel Confinement Crates
18. NC Pro-Gas Chamber Bill Gets A “No” Vote
19. USDA Cites New Iberia Primate Lab For Violations
20. U.S. Senate Passes Resolution Against Canada Sealing
21. Canadian Sealers Lose Biggest Customer — EUROPE!
22. EU Votes To Let Most Primate Research Continue
23. Karley’s Sociopath Killer Ordered To Stand Trial
24. Horse Slaughterhouses Now Legal In Montana
25. Michigan Pound Gives R&R Research The Boot
26. Big Surprise: Swine Flu, Born On U.S. Factory Farms
27. Los Angeles DA Drops Charges Against Dog Dragger
28. Obama Accepts Breeder Dog As Gift For Daughters

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Because I’m just a wee bit late in posting this Friends of Kinship Circle action alert, item #1 is no longer active. The good news is, California SB 250 (The Pet Responsibility Act) was voted outed of committed 6-3, so now it’s on to the state legislature. Or so I assume; who knows how many committees and sub-committees must be navigated before the issue comes up for a general vote? Either way, you can sign up to receive future action alerts at www.yesonsb250.com; please do so.

Item #2 - which involves reducing the mandatory hold time from six to three days in California shelters - is still in play, so check it out, take action (if you haven’t already - or, hells bells, even if you have), and spread the word.

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Kinship Circle - info [at] kinshipcircle.org
Date: Thu, Jun 25, 2009 at 7:18 PM
Subject: Act Now For Spay-Neuter Bill * Oppose 3-Day Shelter Hold [Friends Of KC]

FRIENDS OF KINSHIP CIRCLE
friendsofkinshipcircle.wordpress.com

* KINSHIP CIRCLE DOES NOT WRITE OR RESEARCH THESE ALERTS.
* QUESTIONS? CONTACT ALERT WRITER. PLEASE DO NOT HIT REPLY.

IN THIS ALERT:

1. Vote For Historic Spay/Neuter Bill Is 6/30. Act Now.
2. Don’t Let Calif. Kill Shelter Animals After Just 3 Days

=======================

Vote For Historic Spay/Neuter Bill Is 6/30. Act Now.

ALERT WRITER:

Judie Mancuso, President, Social Compassion In Legislation (SCIL)
stc34 [at] aol.com * www.SocialCompassionInLegislation.org
www.yesonsb250.com/sb250-home.php

TAKE ACTION:

SB 250 will be voted on in the Assembly Committee on Business and Professions THIS TUESDAY, JUNE 30, 2009

2 EASY ACTIONS TO HELP THIS BILL PASS OUT OF COMMITTEE

1. ENTER YOUR NAME/INFORMATION TO SEND AN AUTO LETTER:
www.yesonsb250.com/sb250-send-a-letter.php

2. TAKE 60 SECONDS TO LEAVE A PHONE MESSAGE:
www.yesonsb250.com/sb250-make-calls.php

BACKGROUND:

California’s SB 250, The Pet Responsibility Act

Each year, over $250 million dollars is spent housing and euthanizing homeless dogs and cats in California. Approximately 1 million dogs and cats enter California’s shelters each year, and over half are euthanized (killed) simply because there are not enough homes. California shelters are seeing an explosion of animals relinquished to shelters in this bad economy, meanwhile the shelters are faced with budget cuts and laying off staff.

SB 250 provides a reasonable, fiscally responsible step towards reducing pet overpopulation in California in two ways: by fostering responsible pet ownership through increased animal licensing, and by offering incentives for owners to spay and neuter their pets.

Please note that SB 250 does not affect feral cat caregivers. The bill applies only to pets that live on your property… Since January 1, 2009, California has spent over $100,000,000 tax dollars just to house and euthanize unwanted pets… To learn more about SB 250, including several interviews and video segments: www.YESonSB250.com

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I’m trying to clear out my inbox before the holiday weekend, so expect a flood of miscellaneous action alerts from now ’til then.

This one comes from the Yahoo Group Animal Advocacy and is reprinted in its entirety. The CounterPunch article linked to in the alert is lengthy but informative; you can find talking points there or here. (The latter being the equally long-but-informative Newsweek article, “It’s Survival of the Weak and Scrawny; Researchers see ‘evolution in reverse’ as hunters kill off prized animals with the biggest antlers and pelts.”)

Why eBay Should Stop Selling Guided Hunts for Wolves, Bears and Cougars
Blood Sport Auction
By CHRIS GENOVALI

There is an amazing array of things one can purchase on EBay, from used lawn furniture to vintage dolls to bongs allegedly used by Olympic athletes. Among the myriad items being sold on EBay are guided hunts of North America’s grizzly bears, black bears, wolves and cougars. It’s hard to believe, but these recreational killing opportunities are now bought and sold on the world’s largest internet auction site; EBay has become an online marketplace peddling the trophy hunting of the continent’s top-level predator species.

ACTION: Please email and/or write the following individuals and demand that eBay stop this atrocious practice.

Matthew J. Bannick, President, eBay International: matthewb [at] ebay.com

Bill Cobb, President eBay North America: billcobb [at] ebay.com

You can also write a letter to them at:

eBay Inc.
2145 Hamilton Avenue
San Jose, CA 95125

PLEASE WRITE AND FORWARD WIDELY!

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Though I’ve started linking to Kinship Circle’s alerts (as opposed to re-formatting and crossposting) whenever possible, I decided to publish this alert in in entirety anyhow (and even though I did indeed link to it in last week’s weekend link roundup). It’s just one of those stories that boggles the mind; even more so since it’s been dragging on for nearly four years now.

If you’ve been reading easyVegan for any length of time, you’ve probably already seen at least one alert dealing with the plight of Stu and Jeff de la Rosa. In August of 2005, Stu and another of Jeff de la Rosa’s furkids got into a scuffle, in which Stu was hurt. The “pet” sitter/assistant attempted to slip a harness over Stu’s head so that she could take him to the vet. Injured and cornered, Stu bit the assistant. Initially, there wasn’t an issue, as the bite was superficial. A month later, however, the sitter decided to sue, and Stu was confiscated without his father’s knowledge. Stu has been languishing in the “care” of LAAS (L.A. Animal Services) ever since. While experts have determined that Stu is not a danger, on death row he sits.

Thus far, Stu has spent four of his nine years imprisoned, the victim of injured pride, ego and bureaucracy (all of them human). Stu, now a senior, has not shown aggression towards any of his handlers since the August 2005 incident, and yet the city remains dead set on killing him. They continue to fight for his death, in fact. Four years of food, housing, medical care and legal bills - you’d think the city of Los Angeles could find a better use of its money, no?

The whole sad, sorry affair seems even more egregious in light of the “small victories” we celebrate daily - victories such as Gramby’s adoption after 2 1/2 years spent in a kenneled rescue facility. Gramby’s story, while unfortunate and commonplace, is also somewhat understandable - after all, he had no home to return to. His prison sentence was one of both necessity and compassion. But Stu - Stu has a life and family waiting for him. Stu remains imprisoned not out of human kindness, but rather human ugliness. There are no excuses for the injustices committed against Stu. The electric chair for a misdemeanor, indeed.

Please take a moment to read the Examiner article referenced below, and contact the LA City Attorney, the LA Public Safety Committee, LA City Officials and the LAAS. Kinship Circle has helpfully provided contact info and a sample letter (see below), but personalize the letter if possible. By all means, be indignant, stern and outraged - but also polite and respectful.

And also, spread the word - feel free to crosspost the Kinship Circle alert as written!

Previous alerts:

04/13/09 - Kinship Circle: Friends of Kinship Circle Alerts - #3. Save Stu – Wrongfully Impounded Since 9/15/05

12/25/07 - Kinship Circle: UPDATES: Year-End Victories & Setbacks, SEPT - DEC 2007 (Parts 1 & 2) - #17. Stu Is Spared, But NOT Free Or Exonerated

09/17/07 - Kinship Circle: September Kinship Circle Digest (Parts 1 and 2) - #44. Unhappy Anniversary For Stu! Will He Ever Be Freed?

06/20/07 - Kinship Circle: JUNE KC DIGEST: Saving Stu, Dolphin Captures, Oasis In Trouble + MORE - #1. Saving Stu - Legally They Can Kill Him Any Day Now

06/20/07 - Kinship Circle: Saving Stu: Legally They Can Kill Him Any Day Now

01/10/07 - Kinship Circle: Stu In Grave Danger. Again. [KC MEMBER ALERT]

09/08/06 - Kinship Circle: UPDATE: Stu Is Safe!

09/06/06 - Kinship Circle: LETTER / End Stu’s Nightmare Inside LAAS

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As much as I love me some Sarah Haskins, sometimes it’s weeks before I remember to check for a new installment of her Target Women series. I’d blame it on my scatterbrain, except I’m usually organized to a fault. There are just too many distractions on the interwebs to keep track of, dammit.

Anyhow, I had ample time to catch up this week, since I haven’t been feeling all that well. (Stomach bug, food poisoning, who knows.) Though she rarely covers “animal issues” per se, a number of her skits do indirectly touch upon animal exploitation, as we saw with her take on the Carl’s Jr. franchise. So it is with her discussions of “lady food” - namely, chocolate and yogurt.

There are a number of feminine corollaries to the tired old “meat = masculinity” meme. For example, women eat “like birds” (and sundry other adorable-but-harmless wildlife), daintily pecking at fruit, vegetables and (one would assume) scattered nuts and seeds, our weak lil’ bodies having little need for muscle-building protein. (Protein is only found in the rotting flesh of animal corpses, dontchaknow!?)

Additionally, whereas men crave meat (and heart disease), women literally lust after sugary highs - especially if they come coated in chocolate. What better foodstuff for already hysterical, irrational and moody beings, no? Plus, consuming the milk of our enslaved sisters is the perfect night cap to a shitty blind date.

 

 
The marketing of yogurt - specifically, probiotic-rich yogurt - is a newer trend. (Or at least “new” in the retro sense of the word; I’ve no idea what the picture was like in the ’70s, but the Mr. swears that he remembers similar gynocentric yogurt advertising in his youth.) Whether you want to attribute it to IBS, yeast infections or diet fads, yogurt most definitely falls into the “lady food” category.

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Via Blamer moodygirl comes the following SNL skit, “Cluckin Chicken,” which takes the Suicide Food phenomenon to a whole new level. (Indeed, Ben included the video as part of a “Fictional Suicide Food Emeriti” roundup last May.)

Warning: the video contains some graphic footage of a chicken corpse being “cleaned” and “quartered.”
 

 
About twenty seconds into the video, my husband popped up over my shoulder to ask if I was watching an actual commercial. Such is the depravity of modern “meat” advertisements.

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The Onion reports:
 

 
This video is chock full of snarky goodness, but my favorite part?

“Shawn was only 17 years old, so we never got to breed her.”

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The anti-chaining group Dog Deserve Better has been holding an an annual Chain-Off, on or around July 4th, since 2004. This year, the Chain-Off will take place June 27 through July 12.

Just what is a “Chain-Off,” you ask?

Chain Off has been held annually around the 4th of July since 2003, highlighting the reality that while Americans are celebrating their own freedom, there are tens of thousands of Man’s Best Friends in every state who are still not free: America’s chained and penned dogs. These dogs are found in backyards stretching from Delaware to Alaska, from Maine to Hawaii, throughout the provinces of Canada, and in countries around the world.

Chain Off has evolved from one woman chaining herself to a doghouse in 2003 for 33 hours, to 85 people chaining themselves in 23 states during last year’s 2008 Chain Off to raise awareness for chained dogs.

This year help us blow last year’s 85 total out of the water by chaining yourself in your own backyard, your neighborhood, a local park, or with us in South Carolina! Join up ‘in packs’ to make a local event of it, or take it low-key in a one-woman or one-man show in your own backyard. However it works for you, it’s ok by us! We’ve got more excitement than ever, with a large event in S. Carolina where activists will be chained, and new ways to fundraise in groups or on your own. We’d like to see over 100 people, and at least one from EVERY SINGLE STATE, living chained to doghouses sometime during the week from June 27th through July 7th. We can do it! You can do it!

In addition to being our biggest awareness campaign of the year, this is also our biggest fundraising event of the year, last year raising over $33,000 for our work with chained and penned dogs. $33,000? Let’s blow that out of the water this year too, with a goal of $60,000 raised during Chain Off! Be part of it! You can fundraise even if you’re not going to live chained to the doghouse…join an online fundraising ‘team’ in your state, start your own fundraising page, and make it happen.

We intended to do Chain Off in Denver, Colorado this year, but were asked by Denver Kills Dogs to stand in solidarity with them in a boycott of Denver. While we had been planning to use the opportunity to protest their pit bill ban, we decided it would be right for us to pull out of Denver. Hence a time crunch to find another location!

Given that we had so little time and needed on the ground help, we approached friend and founder of local anti-chaining organization Pawsitive Effects Mikael Hardy, and are chaining off in her neck of the woods so we can collaborate. Mikael was one of the 11 participantes in our 2006 Chain Off who spent days chained to doghouses hoping to win a new car, and took her passion for the cause to new levels!

We’d like to invite all the up and coming local Anti-Chaining organizations to Chain Off with us; this show of coordination and solidarity will take our cause even further!

Whether you are part of an organization or an individual animal advocate, we’d love for you to travel there to be chained with us, or set yourself up in your neighborhood, town, or your own backyard! We accommodate all participants, in whatever way works for you.

Make sure to visit our Chain Off Home Page and fill out the registration form to get you started. Special thanks to Susan Hartland, DDB Seattle Rep, for her diligent work in obtaining not only one but two Chain Off locations this year!

Chain Off Attire, with this gorgeous logo donated by DaftGeneration.com, will make the perfect 4th of July shirt this year! Gets yours at our cafepress store.

If the idea of chaining yourself to a dog house in the heat of July doesn’t appeal to you (and here, I should stop to note that it isn’t exactly a party for dogs similarly chained, either), you can make a donation to DDB, or sign on as a Team Sponsor for $100. And, naturally, there’s all that cool Chain-Off 2009 gear to be had!

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Update: 6/19/09: Using the random number generator www.random.org - which selected the #4 - we have a winner! Sharon, I’ll contact you at the email address you provided in order to get your shipping info.

Thanks for playing, everyone. I’ve seen a few similar contests pop up here and there, so if you didn’t win, keep an eye on your favorite veg blogs for more chances to enter!

———————

We’ve all been hearing about the new documentary Food, Inc. for what seems like months now, and tonight it finally opens to limited release in Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York. Additional screens will be added on 6/19, and every weekend thereafter - through at least mid-August, it looks like. You can view the entire list of play dates here. (Sadly, Kansas City didn’t make the cut, so I guess it’s Netflix for moi.)

In honor of the release, the kind Food, Inc. PR peoples offered me a copy of the film’s companion book, also called Food, Inc., as well as Eric Schlosser’s Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal (the film adaptation of which is still languishing in my Netflix queue; what can I say, I’ve been on a period piece kick as of late!).

They also offered up a set of the books for a reader giveaway. My first ever, at that!

So here’s the deal: in order to win a copy each of Food, Inc. and Fast Food Nation, drop a comment on this post and name your favorite animal-friendly movie: Babe, Behind the Mask, Harry and the Hendersons, whatever. It doesn’t have to be a documentary, in fact, the more creative, the better. Entertain me! A mention of this giveaway on your blog will earn you a second entry (just make sure it shows up here as a trackback, or else leave a second comment with a link to your blog post).

[Updated to add: The PR people didn't mention location restrictions, and I totally forgot to ask, so I'll assume for the time being that they'll only mail the books to U.S. residents. Mylène, if you win, I'll personally ship you your set if need be, since that's only fair!]

The contest ends next Friday, 6/19 at 2 AM, CDT, and I’ll announce the winner sometime that day. (Not often you see Central time, eh?)

By the way, I’m 99.9% sure that I managed to fix the comment issue I mentioned last week. Somehow, somewhere, some way, a requirement that users must be logged on to Word Press in order to comment was accidentally enabled; don’t ask me how. It should all be fixed now, but if you run into any issues (knock on sustainable wood), please email me at easyvegan [at] gmail.com. Or, if instant gratification’s your thing, tweet me @easyvegan.

In the meantime, keep reading for some additional info about Food, Inc. (which, much like Fast Food Nation, seems to be more welfare-oriented, but may still be worth checking out - if only to praise the good and refute the bad).

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…started last Friday on Animal Planet. (And yes, I’m way behind on my email, thanks for asking.)

I must admit to never watching Whale Wars; while, one the one hand, I recognize the need to support animal-friendly programming such as WW, I really can’t bring myself to watch the more graphic, gruesome stuff. I already know what a bloody, needless mess whaling is - no need to voluntarily witness footage of such, thus giving myself a week’s worth of nightmares.

That said, many thanks everyone who does tune in to these kind of shows, thus helping to keep them on the air!

Anyhow, Matt from Animal Planet provided links to several news season 2 Whale Wars videos on You Tube.

The Season 2 trailer is relatively blood-free, save for a brief shot of a whale being harpooned and pulled towards a whaling ship:
 

 

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